AD 2017 Q4

EMMA CASAGRANDE EMMA CASAGRANDE ANDY CASAGRANDE ANDY CASAGRANDE MICHAEL SCHOLL
most amazing images of the animal
so people watching can be inspired
just like I was. I grew up watching
Shark Week, and I was completely
fascinated, not afraid. Sometimes
Shark Week has the scary music and
effects, and sometimes I just turn off
the sound and watch the pictures.
But I think Shark Week does a lot
more good than harm because it
has spread awareness and helped
create communities and social
media campaigns that force people
to acknowledge that sharks are a
keystone species and critical to the
environment. Love it or hate it, the
shows have helped people understand
the shark’s plight and have made the
great white shark the world’s most
famous wildlife superstar.
Where would you send people
to first get their feet wet with
shark diving?
The Bahamas. It’s one of the most
straightforward shark diving
destinations on earth. You have
amazing visibility, an incredible
diversity of shark species, and it’s very
accessible. Tigers, hammerheads,
blacktips — the list goes on and on;
they’re all there.
What’s next for you?
Killer whales in New Zealand. I’m
heading there with the Orca Research
Trust, a research team out of New
Zealand that’s been studying orcas
for the past 25 years. We hope to film
orcas hunting sharks. Orcas in South
Africa, New Zealand and other places
around the world hunt sharks, but
the footage so far hasn’t been great.
In the past year there have been more
than five confirmed kills of great white
sharks by orcas. People like to glorify
great whites because they’re so badass,
but we know killer whales are the true
apex predators of our oceans. So we’re
going to try to capture them in action
hunting and killing sharks. AD
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